April 2010
Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne's
Ongoing Discussion Announcement
In This Issue
Welcome First Timers
Thought Leader - Elaine Johnson
OD Details
International Calling Options
Future OD Dates
Systems Thinking Newsletter
Thinking Roadmap Seminars and Workshops
Enterprise InThinking
Six Thinking Hats
Lateral Thinking
Managing Variation as a System
Kepner-Tregoe Problem Solving and Decision Making
The New Economics Study Session
Design of Experiments & Taguchi Methods -...An Overview
 
Aim and Stats

Now in our eleventh year of operation, the aim of the "OD" sessions is to continue to foster an appreciation of Enterprise InThinking, as well as inthinking, within an emerging thinking network that is developing inside Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne and beyond. Dates for future "OD" sessions along with additional "thinking" opportunities for 2010 can be found in this announcement.

OD Stats

For an update on OD statistics, this month's invitation is going out to 5000+ partners in the U.S., as well as fellow inthinking partners in Australia, Austria, Bosnia-Hercegovina, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, China, Dubai, Ethiopia, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, India, Iran, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Kenya, Malaysia, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Romania, Russia, Singapore, Slovakia, South Africa, South Korea, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey,  the United Arab Emirates, and the U.K. Taken together, these individuals represent over 600 organizations in this list of nations, from elementary schools and senior high schools to colleges and universities, from one-person consulting firms to United Technologies, GM, IBM, General Electric, NASA,  Philips Electronics, and The Boeing Company. Among this list of invitees, participation in March's OD conference calls with Elaine Johnson 
included 
36 partners from across the US and UK, including (in all, 250+ have joined us in 2010, with 450 partners in 2009, 394 in 2008, 342 in 2007, 444 in 2006, and 402  2005...ah, yes, variation exists).


And, yes, Grace, the diffusion process of connecting thought leaders continuuues...

Join Our Mailing List
Good morning from the west coast home of Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne (PWR), located in Canoga Park, California, on the western end of the San Fernando Valley in greater Los Angeles.
 
With Cinco de Mayo reminding us once again that one day of celebration may not fit all of usit's time to come together in the spirit of improving our abilities to think together, learn together, and work together, in our respective organizations...as a starting point.  Towards this end, this month we feature Tim Higgins as our Thought Leader, in sessions set for Thursday, May 6th and Friday, May 7th, in sessions we moved a week back to accommodate some hectic schedules.  Details follows below. 

Link here for the PARTICIPANT SURVEY
for this month's OD and to receive the conference call information once you complete the survey. 
 
Cheers...
Bill Bellows

Associate Fellow and Lead
Enterprise Thinking Network
Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne
Canoga Park, California
william.bellows@pwr.utc.com

Welcome First Timers

Your names have been added to this announcement list by virtue of your attendance in our series of Thinking Roadmap seminars, workshops, and overviews within Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne, or attendance at the annual In2:InThinking Network Forum, through a personal request, from you or a friend.  Welcome to our thinking networks.

Click either link below to send me the name(s) and email address(es) of anyone you would like to have added to this mailing list, or let me know if you would like to be removed.  Thanks!!! 

ADDITIONS               DELETIONS

Thought Leader - Tim Higgins
 
Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne's Enterprise Thinking Network welcomes Tim Higgins (pictured below, right, with PWR colleague, Rudy Hernandez) to lead our fourth Ongoing Discussion of 2010 on May 6th and 7th (and our 124th session since we began in 2000).  
 
Tim Higgins 
For his Thought Piece, Tim has selected the topic of his recent  presentation at the In2:InThinking Network's Forum, titled "Thinking About Thinking."  His presentation is the title for his Thought Piece as well, "Thoughts and Thinking About Thinking - Personal AHAs and DUHs (AKA Various Epiphanies)."
 

Please join your Ongoing Discussion colleagues from across the country and around the world for what promises to be a delightful conversation with one of the true stalwarts of our Network, Tim Higgins. Tim will provoke conversation by sharing with us his "Thoughts and Thinking About Thinking" [link to thought piece], based on his concurrent conference presentation at the recent In2:InThinking Forum in Los Angeles. (You didn't miss it, did you?  Well, make a note now to sign up for next year's Forum, which will take place from April 28 through May 3, 2011.) Tim will share thoughts from one context (his), not THE context, and an assortment of personal observations and epiphanies (to him), though he acknowledges that some folks might respond to his "Aha" with "You have a remarkable grasp of the obvious."

 

This conversation will be, among other things, an opportunity to explore why black and white are not opposites, why "empowerment" triggers annoyance, how Red Pen Company behaviors creeps in when we're trying to ask Blue Pen Company questions, the quantum mechanical aspects of behavior, and other provocations (or humdrum). How can you resist?

 
Biographical information

 

Tim spent nearly29 years employed by the company currently governed by United Technologies' Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne (PWR) business unit in Canoga Park. He retired,and returned to the same Canoga Park location as part of the NASA Resident Management Office. Departmental assignments took him from engineering to manufacturing operations to the total quality management office, to quality in the position of focal point for cause and corrective action. He now represents NASA's interests from the System and Mission Assurance viewpoint. All was preceded by 8 years teaching high school English and mathematics.  
 

According to Tim, the company paid him to mess with the frontal lobes of those trapped in the prevailing style of management, though they thought he had a different assignment.  In support of PWR's Thinking Roadmap efforts, he provides learning experiences around the Six Thinking Hats, Lateral Thinking, Problem Solving and Decision Making and organizes discussions of Deming's last book, "The New Economics." 

 

Tim spends three days a week playing soccer, some portion of each day adoring a Brazilian wife who saves him a fortune shopping, and some time loving a trilingual-History-Channel-watching-19-year-old son. He is especially fascinated with books describing the probabilistic and downright weird behavior of the universe and the people in it. Tim has a Masters degree in English, has an ASQ Certified Quality Engineer card, and a rather large collection of Brazilian soccer jerseys.

 

Contact Tim by e-mail at timothy.higgins@pwr.utc.com with any questions you would like to share with him in preparation for his OD session with us.    
OD Details

Please join us for one or all of the hours of this month's OD. As always, you are invited to participate for as long, or as short, as you can in one or more of these sessions.  Note that the conversations vary from session to session, due to a variety of causes, such as who participates and what questions are asked.   This diversity is captured every month, as the calls are recorded and posted as mp3 files on a PWR OD website that is being created.
 
Option - Time (Pacific Time)
1 - Thursday, May 6th - 12:00-1:00pm
2 - Thursday, May 6th - 1:00-2:00pm
3 - Friday, May 7th - 12:00-1:00pm
4 - Friday, May 7th - 1:00-2:00pm  
The agenda for each option will be:
Timing: Topic
Opening 10 minutes: Call in & Introductions
Next 45 minutes: Ongoing Discussion
Last 5 minutes: Farewells and Close

Please reply to this note by noon Pacific Time on Wednesday, May 5th to confirm your plans to participate in one (or more) of these options. If you do plan to attend, please complete the OD PARTICIPATION SURVEY by using the link below...

PARTICIPANT SURVEY 
 
Those of you connecting in Canoga Park can join us in the Omega Room at the DeSoto facility for both days with Tim.
 
Telecon lines (including a pass code and a security code) have been arranged for those who cannot join us at Canoga and are provided upon completion of the participant survey.

As always, please forward this announcement to anyone we missed who would also like to participate.

Regards...
Bill
International Participants

Our conference call sessions are toll-free within the U.S. and Canada.  Several international participants have been able to connect toll-free using Skype for a VOIP connection, which we now recommend to others calling in from outside the U.S. and Canada. 
 
First, you'll need to establish a Skype account at
www.skype.com.  Once Skype is set up and functioning correctly the only thing that is different when connecting with our "Thinking Roadmap" conference call sessions ("OD" or "The New Economics Study Sessions") is the use of a pass code and security code.  For our "OD" sessions, these numbers are provided once the "participant survey" is completed.  For the "The New Economics Study Sessions," these numbers are provided in an email from Tim Higgins, who hosts these calls.  In either case, when prompted by Skype to enter these codes, use the keyboard not voice option and be sure to turn off the computer's microphone, otherwise the numeric keys don't function.  If the microphone is left on when the codes are entered, Skype's automated operator will reply with "number not recognized," as no number has been transmitted.
 
New users of Skype are encouraged to perform a conference call test in advance of the scheduled "Thinking Roadmap" conference call.  Contact Bill Bellows to arrange for a test call. 
 
Future OD Dates

Mark your calendars - future Ongoing Discussion sessions will be held on the following dates (subject to slight changes), from 12-1pm and 1-2pm Pacific Time.


Month, Dates and Thought Leader(s):
 
May 24-25, To be determined
June 24-25, To be determined
July 29-30, To be determined
August 26-27, To be determined
September 23-24, To be determined
October 14-15, Tribute to W. Edwards Deming
November 18-19, To be determined
December  16-17, To be determined
 
Note that the "OD" home page on the In2:InThinking Network web site is being moved to a PWR website.   Stay tuned for the new address.   
Systems Thinking Newsletter

Available online for Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne employees...

The Systems Thinker
is an electronic newsletter made available monthly (on a subscription basis) by Pegasus Communications. Each issue provides articles and case studies on systems thinking concepts and is available only electronically (as a .pdf file). Tools and techniques for use in the Learning Organization are regularly included in this valuable publication. Featured authors include thought leaders and consultants well known in organizational learning and change management circles.

The current edition of the SYSTEMS THINKER, as well as archived issues from December 2002 through April 2010, is available for reading and printing by Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne employees
here.

Network friends outside of Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne can learn more about this newsletter AND read a variety of sample issues and articles
online. Individual and site licences are available.
 
Thinking Roadmap Seminars and Workshops

The following in-house "Thinking Roadmap" seminars and workshops are open to employees of Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne (PWR), as well as suppliers, customers, family members, and "Members of the Community."   "Members of the community" are individuals who are involved full or part time, or in a volunteer capacity, in community related work.

Background information on PWR's Thinking Roadmap, in addition to seminar and workshop descriptions and upcoming schedules, are being added to a new PWR website, to be announced. 
The schedule below includes the next available offerings for the listed seminars in Canoga Park, California.  Contact
Bill Bellows to request additonal information.

Note that the dates listed below are subject to change.  All times listed are Pacific Time.
Enterprise InThinking
 
Registration Fee - there is NO fee to attend

Prerequisites - there are NO prerequisites

Format - two 4.5-hour sessions over two days, offered as an in-person event

Presented by: Bill Bellows

Schedule for Enterprise Thinking classes in Canoga Park, CA for Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne
 
Class #CP-2010-05
Part 1 - 24-May-10 - 7:00-11:30am
Part 2 - 25-May-10 - 7:00-11:30am

Class #CP-2010-06
Part 1 - 24-Jun-10 - 7:00-11:30am
Part 2 - 25-Jun-10 - 7:00-11:30am
 
Class #CP-2010-07
Part 1 - 29-Jul-10 - 7:00-11:30am
Part 2 - 30-Jul-10 - 7:00-11:30am
Six Thinking Hats

Registration Fee - there is no fee for PWR employees to attend.  For visitors, we charge $165, payable to Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne.

Prerequisite - attended Enterprise Thinking within the past 12 to 14 months

Format - one 8-hour session, offered as an in-person event

Presented by: Tim Higgins

Schedule for Six Thinking Hats classes in Canoga Park, CA for Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne

Class #CP-2010-02
13-May-10 - 7:15-2:45pm
 
Lateral Thinking
 
Registration Fee - there is no fee for PWR employees to attend.  For visitors, we charge $120, payable to Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne.

Prerequisite - attended Enterprise Thinking within the past 12 to 14 months

Format - two 8-hour sessions, offered as an in-person event

Presented by: Tim Higgins

Schedule for Lateral Thinking classes in Canoga Park, CA for Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne  

Class #CP-2010-01
Part 1 - 14-Jul-10 - 8:00-4:00pm
Part 2 - 15-Jul-10 - 8:00-4:00pm 

Register to attend Lateral Thinking
Managing Variation as a System
 
Registration Fee - there is NO fee for employees to attend.  Visitors are asked to bring a copy of the course textbook (Donald Wheeler's
Understanding Variation), which can be purchased online for as low as $25.  Follow this link to Amazon for one purchase option.

Prerequisite - there are NO prerequisites

Format - three 3-hour sessions over three days, offered as an in-person event

P
resented by: Joe Onstott

Schedule for Managing Variation as a System classes in Canoga Park, CA for Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne

Class #CP-2010-01
RESCHEDULED 
 
Kepner-Tregoe Problem Solving and Decision Making

Registration Fee - there is no fee for PWR employees to attend.  For visitors, we charge $330, payable to Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne.

Prerequisite - attended Enterprise Thinking within the past 12 to 14 months

Format - three 7-hour sessions over three weeks, offered as an in-person event

Presented by: Tim Higgins

Suggestion: If you are unable to attend all three sessions in a given monthly series, we encourage you to attend the first session and then attend the second and third in any order during a future monthly series.

Schedule for Kepner-Tregoe classes in Canoga Park, CA for Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne
 
Class #CP-2010-02
Part 1 - 15-Sep-10 - 7:30-4:00pm
Part 2 - 22-Sep-10 - 7:30-4:00pm
Part 3 - 29-Sep-10 - 7:30-4:00pm 

Register to attend Kepner-Tregoe Problem Solving and Decision Making 
The New Economics Study Session
 
Registration Fee - there is NO fee to attend.  In addition, this is a toll-free call from the United States and Canada.  International participants are welcome to join in as well, provided they do so at their own expense for the conference call.

Prerequisite - there are NO prerequisites

Format - seven 2-hour sessions over three and a half weeks, offered as a teleconference event

Presented by: Tim Higgins
 
Schedule for The New Economics Study Session
 
Class #CP-2010-01
Offered on Mondays and Wednesdays, from 3:00-5:00pm beginning on April 26th 
 
 
Register to attend the TNE Study Session
 
Design of Experiments & Taguchi Methods - An Overview
 
Registration Fee - there is NO fee to attend

Prerequisite - there are NO prerequisites

Format - eight 2-hour sessions over four weeks, offered as an in-person event

Presented by: Bill Bellows 
 
Schedule for Design of Experiments & Taguchi Methods - An Overview 
 
Class #CP-2010-02
Offered on Tuesdays and Thursdays, from 8:00-10:00am beginning on June 1st 
 
 
Register to attend the Design of Experiments & Taguchi Methods - An Overview
  
PRATT & WHITNEY ROCKETDYNE | PO Box 7922 | Mail Code RAA14 | Canoga Park | CA | 91309